During the smelting process in which aluminum is manufactured, large blocks of carbon are employed as anode electrodes. These carbon blocks become consumed through use and are routinely removed from the smelting process and replaced with new ones. The carbon blocks removed are still quite large, and it is desirable to reclaim this removed carbon and use it when forming new carbon electrodes. However, the removed carbon block is encrusted with light colored alumina or cryolite which must be removed before the carbon block can be recycled.
Additionally, smelting plants normally manufacture their own electrodes as a companion function to their mainline smelting operation, and thus the electrode manufacturing process must keep in step with the smelting process. This requires the removal of the alumina and cryolite encrustations quickly and continuously so as not to necessitate the shutting down of the smelting operation due to a lack of new carbon electrodes to replace those consumed.
Generally, the cleaning of electrodes involves a two-step process, the first step being a rough cleaning operation, and the second step being a fine cleaning operation such as that described in applicant's parent application bearing Ser. No. 510,659 concerning a flail assembly.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved system for rough cleaning large carbon electrodes which is usable either alone or with a fine cleaning system such as a flailing system.